A mandala is a repetitive flowing design inside a circle. Creating a mandala is a way to express our thoughts and feelings in a harmonious healing way by combining our physical and emotional worlds together in a work of art.

A mandala can be used as a tool for meditation and therapy, or just a way to feel calm while doing a pleasant activity such as colouring in harmonious flowing pictures.

Mandalas are another activity that can assist with expression and validation of thoughts and feelings. They enable the children to find a way to express themselves other than verbally,and allowing parts of their inner selves to come forward in a safe manner. This can assist with helping them to understand what they are feeling.

The children can learn about mandalas by colouring in the template below, this can help them learn about the flow and patterns of the mandala and about applying colour. They can go on to creating their own mandalas by using the starter template below.

Below are two examples of mandalas created by children in our Chill Skills for Kids class.

The following is an activity that can be done after listening to the relaxation story, The Three Owls, which is a track from our CD for kids. The CD is available from our online store.

How to do this simple activity.

After listening to the story, read the theme of the story or what the story is about, (see below) to the child and encourage them to do the activity which is to draw a picture of themselves surrounded by the moon and the stars.

Why do this activity.

This activity assists the child in connecting with the theme of the story, “about feeling happy in nature and accepting themselves just the way they are”.

Doing this activity helps to validate their exprience and what they may have imagined from the story, helps to embed the relaxing feeling and will also help them to remember other parts of the story that they may like to share.

What to do

Step 1. Listen to the relaxing story.

Step 2. Listen to the theme.

Theme for The Three Owls

This story talks about the owls showing you the magic of the night time, the twinkling stars, the moon and the beautiful dark blue of the night sky.

About looking at the refection in the lake of the smiling moon and the twinkling stars and when the stars twinkled, it was a message of happiness to you from the stars.

It’s a great feeling to know that all of the things in nature that are around us can make us feel happy, and being happy can make us feel good about ourselves. That’s what makes the night-time of nature magical.

It also talks about you seeing your refection in the lake, amongst the twinkling stars and the moon, and about you feeling happy because you see that you are a part of the magic of night-time.

Knowing that we can be happy just the way we are helps us to understand that it doesn’t matter what we think others see and think about us.

If you are reading to a child remember to read slow and steady to allow them to form pictures in their mind to the words that you are reading.

For Kids; If you don’t have someone to read to you, an idea may be to read it and record it in your voice so you can then listen to it. Or you can read the words and simply imagine pictures to the words with your eyes open.

The Magic Tree Visualisation

Close your eyes.

Take a big breath in and slowly breathe out.

Again, take another nice big breath in and slowly breathe out.

Imagine that you are standing in front of a big strong tree in a forest surrounded by lots of other trees.

The friendly tree says that it is very happy to see you.

The tree branches and leaves touch the other trees around it, so they all help protect the friendly animals that live in the forest underneath it.

You feel safe

You notice that you have a friendly animal by your side, it is happy to see you, because you have come to visit it’s favourite tree.

Give the tree a hug and ask the tree to take all of your worries away.

The tree knows how to turn these worries into something beautiful and send them away.

Notice how relaxed and happy you are starting to feel.

Say thank you to the tree and feel the love coming from the tree to you.

Say goodbye to the tree and your animal for now.

Give your fingers a little wiggle.

Give your toes a little wiggle.

Think about your body and feeling relaxed.

Take a big breath in and slowly breathe out.

Slowly open your eyes.

Some things to think about after doing this visualisation.

What did your animal look like?

What did your tree look like?

How did you feel when you gave your worries to the tree?

Activity

Draw a picture of your tree and your animal and keep it on your bedroom wall or put it in your journal.